A $10 billion compromise backing the administration’s COVID-19 defenses stalled in the Senate on Wednesday and seemed almost certain to deviate for weeks, falling victim to the campaign-season battle over immigration.

There have been plenty of accusations, but no sign that the two parties are close to resolving their impasse over the bipartisan pandemic bill that President Joe Biden and top Democrats want Congress to approve this week. With Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) prioritizing confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson over the weekend (likely Thursday), the COVID-19 bill appears to be Sure to slip, at least until Congress returns after a two-week recess.

A day earlier, Republicans even blocked the Senate from starting debate on a bill that would increase funding for COVID-19 treatments, vaccines and testing. Republicans are asking Democrats to allow a vote on amendments that preserve immigration restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump, with the Biden administration set to end on May 23.

“Why are Republicans saying no? Because they want to undercut COVID funding legislation with a poison pill they know will undermine this bill,” Schumer said Wednesday.

Schumer and a Republican negotiating team led by Utah Sen. Mitt Romney reached an agreement on a pandemic bill on Monday. Democrats say Republicans are abandoning the deal.

“The question we face is whether Republicans are sincere in providing the resources we need to save American lives, or are they just playing politics,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “The virus won’t wait for Republicans.” Take action in Congress. “

While at least 10 Republican votes may be needed to push the pandemic bill through the 50-50 Senate, overall Republican support for it has been tepid. GOP efforts to refocus the fight on immigration — an issue that polls show is hurting Biden — has clearly put Democrats on the defensive.

A vote on extending immigration restrictions would leave Democratic senators, especially those facing a tense re-election bid in November, a dangerous rift. Liberal immigration advocates want Biden to lift the restrictions, but doing so is expected to prompt a surge in immigration into the U.S. from Mexico that could spark a voter backlash.

“We can win it,” South Dakota Senate Republican leader John Thune said of a potential immigration vote. “They have some Democrats who support it. But their leadership is firmly against, I would say, the idea of ??a hostile vote.”

When the pandemic hit full force in 2020, Trump began to have authorities deport asylum seekers and other immigrants immediately, citing the threat to public health. The intensity of COVID-19 has since diminished in the United States, but BA.2, a new omicron variant, has begun to spread widely here.

Even Republican supporters of the pandemic bill say Democrats must address legislative hurdles.

“They’re in the majority. The administration says they need the money. I actually agree with the administration,” said Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, who helped negotiate the package. “And most people have to figure out how to do the job.”

Among Democrats who support keeping immigration restrictions in place for now is Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is facing re-election. He and several others pointed to the need for federal officials to increase staffing and facilities to deal with the expected influx of immigrants.

“I haven’t seen how the government is going to deal with what I think is a foreseeable surge at the border,” he said in a brief interview on Wednesday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declined to discuss what she would do if the Senate sent her chamber a pandemic measure that would expand Trump’s immigration restrictions.

“Is this even something the Senate would do?” she told reporters. “When they send something, I’ll let you know what we’re going to do with it.”

When asked why Democrats wouldn’t simply embrace immigration restrictions, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer bristled at what Biden said was necessary to win the pandemic spending.

“Your premise is that whatever they put in there, take it,” Hoyer said. “Ugh, we’re not going to play that game.”

This reflects the Democrats’ view that the GOP effort to force immigrants to vote is all about setting a political trap.

“Trust me, it’s one of the pillars of their re-election campaign, which is immigration,” said Richard Durbin, the Illinois Senate Democratic second leader. “The numbers appearing at our border are a real challenge and I believe they intend to treat it as a problem.”